for advice on each one. As we review the price versus mileage, age, and apparent wear and tear, I give them an estimated amount of repairs that they can inspect, and we factor that into the TCO of the car. If the asking price is higher than that, it's a no go. If not, it's up to them, but I counsel them to start putting the anticipated fixes away in savings so they van have it available when they do need it.

One lady who was selling a car was selling it at price above the market. In asking her why, she said it was because she had had zero problems with it, so it was worth that much. However, the problem is that it had, ironically enough, about 160,000 miles on it. I told her the max I would pay, and she balked at that, and reminded me that it had had no problems. I then said, "True, but the next owner will, because it has a lot of miles on it." And so it was, she could not, or would not, get past the fact that it had given her no problems.